You will need

• Poster Roll
• Gouache Paints, but you can also use watercolour for this, it will just create a less opaque look to the painting (This project uses a peach, pink, green, blue and white but you could use whatever colours you fancy)
• Round tip paintbrush
• Pot of water
• Mixing plate
• Scissors

To make

1. Cut a length of paper to your desired size –hand painted wrap works well for small-sized gifts such as notebooks, books and jewellery boxes. Check your paper fits by wrapping it loosely around your object before starting; the worst thing would be to not have enough after you’ve painted it.

2. Begin with your first colour, choose a light colour that you’ll be able to work over. Light pinks, peach and yellow would work well for your floral base. Paint three circle shapes next to one another so they are placed in a triangle leaving a circle in the middle (2a).
Repeat this motif across the wrapping paper leaving an equal distance between your floral motifs. If you don’t feel confident working by eye use a ruler to mark out the equal distances (2b).

3. Now with a darker shade of your base colour, add the detail by painting rounded lines, inside of the circle. You can see they are created with one brush stroke and vary in sizes on each of the florals.

4. Now it’s time to paint your leaves. These can be achieved by painting a curved line and then painting another curved line and joining their points and colouring in. Paint your leaves working out from your triangle of florals.

5. Now paint in filler leaves between your main motifs, the same size, just all working in different directions. It is important for them to all work in different directions so that the pattern doesn’t appear too rigid.

6. In the spaces add curved lines that will act as berry branches, try and paint them as if they are emerging from the trio of florals and repeat across each motif.

7. Now taking a light blue you can paint in the berries up the branches by just adding simple dots along the branch stem.

8. Your florals should be dry now although if you have used watercolour they make take slightly longer. Taking a dark blue, colour in the small circles you left inside each flower to give them a centre.

9. Finally, take white paint and add simple line details to your leaves by painting two curved lines up from one point of the leaf.

10. Leave to dry before wrapping your gifts, for an extra touch add a fresh flower or foliage to your wrapped gift!

Project by Becki Clark, a creative designer inspired by the wonders of nature and seasonal changes. She has illustrated and designed surface patterns and designs for cards, wrapping paper and stationery, which have been sold by large retailers in the UK. Becki's work has also been used in magazines and she regularly runs workshops teaching Brush Lettering and Botanical Illustration. Her first book "Modern Brush Lettering'" will be published later this year.